Archives for Alternative Energy category
Posted on 2010 under Alternative Energy |
22
Jul
Are you considering a DIY PV system for your home? Good for you!. It is important though, that you do the 5 essential steps to success a for DIY PV system for your home. You might already have answers for some of them. Be as detailed in your investigations and in collecting your results as possible and write it all down. You will need that information when it gets the details of the design and building of the solar PV system.
1. Don’t make the mistakes others have made when building a PV solar system for your home. Get a good start with choosing the right type and size of panels and system components for your particular application. Begin with clearly defining your goal. Will your solar PV system serve a weekend vacation cabin in a remote area? That kind of system is the simplest one and many excellent DIY PV solar kits are available. Do you want a photovoltaic system that covers between 30% and 70% of your electric needs? These systems can range from simple (no battery storage) to fairly involved. The king of the systems is the one that will get you off the grid when you are done with the solar PV installation for your home. This option will require you to have a considerable battery storage for overcast and rainy days.
2. Have you minimized the electric requirement of your home? PV panels and batteries are still pretty expensive. You don’t want to spend money on extra PV panels. Here’s what the numbers look like: Photovoltaic panels produce between 6W to 19W per square foot. Estimated prices for just the panels range from $3.0 to $5.0 per sqft.. This is based on reviewing available pricing today. It could be higher or lower . With these numbers and looking at replacing one 60W incandescent light with a 12W LED light, can lower the panel price for your DIY PV project by$7.5 (19W output and $3.0/sqft) to $40 (6W output and $5.0/sqft). So if you replace five 60 W incandescent bulbs, you could possibly save up to $240, just for the panels. Replacing incandescent lights with LED lights is just one way to reduce your electric demand. You can also: shut of lights and unused stereos and TVs, install motion detectors and replace inefficient appliances with high-efficiency appliances.
3. Get out the old calculator for step 3. Or you can use one of the many free online tools to calculate how much sunlight, ideally direct sunlight, the PV panels will receive at the location where you intend to put them. You can also ask a PV panel manufacturer if they could do those calculations for you. Regardless which option you choose, you will have to make allowances for trees and/or neighboring houses that might throw shadows on your PV panels.
4. Local codes and utility requirements for connecting your solar system to the grid must be checked and complied with. They might require you to install a very specific meter or other piece of equipment. While you talk to them, check what utility incentives for PV systems are currently offered. In addition to the federal tax credits for solar systems you might be able to take advantage of state tax credits for solar PV systems.
5. Finally, educate yourself. Most likely you have never before planned, designed and installed a solar PV system. Others have. Learn from their mistakes; don’t repeat them. Many books and videos are available. And like with everything else, some are excellent, some are not very useful. Spend some time at your local library or the bookstore and look through a few books and magazines. Attend a class at a local community college. Research solar PV systems online. The government’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site (www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/) has a huge online library about solar PV systems. I do recommend investing in a set of how-to videos about DIY solar system installations.
Done with the preliminary work. You probably now have a very good idea about your goals, where to mount the photovoltaic panels, what incentives and tax credits are available and you almost have a PhD in solar PV systems. You are well prepared to move on to the details of designing and building your own DIY PV system for your home. Should you decide in the end to forgo the do-it-yourself part and hire an installer, you will be an educated consumer who knows what s/he wants.
Before you start a DIY solar photovoltaic system for your home, do the 5 steps and learn all about the jpj pjpjpjpjp[kjj pijpj secrets of how to successfully build your own solar photovoltaic system.
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Technorati Tags: Alternative Energy, climate change, diy pv system, diy solar power, diy solar pv, energy conservation, global warming, solar energy
Posted on 2010 under Alternative Energy |
21
Jul
In today’s economic and political environment, landlords are struggling to conform to government regulations and tenant demands. Searching for more environment friendly ways to heat our buildings can present a real challenge.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about the many benefits of wind technology, but allow me to introduce you to solar heating tubes: the alternative green energy source. The sun is the most powerful energy source we have. Every day, 365 days per year in most environments, the sun gives us several hours of ambient heat. But most of the energy it supplies goes unused, while instead we use carbon fuels, which are rapidly being depleted, becoming more expensive and pollute the atmosphere. The situation is only going to get worse for those who continue to burn fossil fuels, so it’s time to put all the newly developed green technology to use, while many of the world’s governments are offering to subsidize the costs.
Using solar heating tubes to produce green energy comes with many benefits, both to landlords and their tenants. Depending on the amount of hot water is used in the building, the savings can be fantastic, even if solar power is only used to heat the building’s water. Obviously, buildings with differing purposes will use different quantities of hot water, but very few buildings use no hot water at all, whether it’s tenants taking showers, doing their laundry, washing dishes, or even just washing their hands. Many properties also employ radiant heat, which use coils of heated water beneath the flooring to heat the whole building. If this is the case with your buildings, you will be able to cut your heating bills considerably, if not entirely.
Solar heating tubes represent a new approach to solar energy and are much more efficient than standard solar panels. In places like New York solar energy is typically not the best way to harness green energy as the climate is so changeable. However, solar heating tubes will continue to be effective even through the winter months. The solar heating tubes can be positioned in such a way that they can absorb the sun’s energy throughout the day, as they have a larger surface area than conventional solar panels, which require direct sunlight to work at optimal levels. The energy collected is then stored in copper rods and surrounded by a vacuum-sealed tube, which allows almost none of the energy to escape. The tubes are so well insulated that the surfaces of the tubes are often cool to the touch even while inside the copper rods can be over three hundred degrees Fahrenheit. The introduction of these two recent advances in solar technology enables landlords to make use of solar power in climates where it was once though to be impractical, such as those with much cloudy weather and colder climates. If you are a landlord in New York solar energy is now within your grasp.
This really is one green energy system that you will want to be on the cutting edge of. Installing solar heating tubes won’t just reduce your carbon footprint and help save the planet, but it also has the potential to leave a lot of extra green in your bank account. When you put those two things together, it’s awfully hard to ignore the benefits of installing solar heating tubes.
Craig Axelrod is a partner for EmmyEnergy.com, a NY solar energy operation offering solar heating tubes solar electric panels & clean energy systems throughout the Northeast.
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Technorati Tags: Alternative Energy, energy, environment, green energy, homes, real estate, solar energy, solar power, wind power
Posted on 2010 under Alternative Energy |
19
Jul
Environmental issues concern both landlords and tenants alike, and using a solar energy system to heat a building’s water can go a long way towards addressing a potential tenant’s concerns. Whether you own an industrial building, commercial buildings or residential buildings, your potential tenants will probably be impressed by any building that harnesses green energy. Switching to green energy sources wherever you can will speak volumes about your ethics to potential renters.
The fact that it’s good for the environment probably isn’t going to appeal to your business acumen but there are other reasons to install solar panels. You will save a significant percentage on your gas and electric bills by becoming less dependent on these sources of heat for your building’s hot water consumption. Any savings can be used to add to your profits, become more competitive by passing savings along to your tenants, or both.
Of course, using solar power to heat water is not a new idea. Experiments into the potential uses of solar power took place as early as the late 1800s. However, although steady strides have been made to improve the available technology, until recently solar energy was less than effective in cold and cloudy regions. And these are the places where energy bills are at their highest. With the development of vacuum sealed solar heating tubes, however, a growing number of people are able to convert to solar energy.
Solar heating tubes’ cylindrical shape allows them to be positioned to ensure that a part of their surface continuously faces towards the sun, allowing them to absorb the sun’s rays for much longer than their predecessors, the flat solar panels. As they are able to capture the sun’s power more efficiently, they are are much more effective at heating water when the day is overcast or cold. Being vacuum sealed increases their efficiency even more as vacuums provide the ideal situation in which to insulate the heat source. Therefore less heating power is lost. The inside of the tube will get hot, while the outside of the tube, insulated by the vacuum, will remain cool to the touch. This results in a lot more of the solar energy being retained and put to use heating the water in your building.
Your building’s boiler system or hot water heater uses up a large portion of the power your building uses. You can significantly lower your energy requirements by installing solar heating tubes and using green energy to your advantage. You only need to buy and install your solar heating tubes once, but the savings can keep on coming.
This is the ideal time to start using a green energy source such as solar water heating tubes. Many governments are now offering significant incentives to incourage building owners to install a solar energy system which makes use of sustainable, renewable energy sources. In most countries you will be eligible for a tax rebate to cover the expenses of installing energy saving devices such as solar panels. Ultimately, all buildings will have to switch to using green energy. It would be best to get on board now, while the government will help defray some of the costs.
Craig Axelrod is a partner for EmmyEnergy.com, a LI solar energy system company installing solar heating tube systems solar pv systems & green systems in the North East.
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Technorati Tags: Alternative Energy, energy, environment, green energy, homes, real estate, solar energy, solar power, wind power
Posted on 2010 under Alternative Energy |
13
Jul
Solar water heating systems for homes are used to produce hot water for showers, washers, sinks, and dishwashers. Technical advances in the last two decades have made solar collectors much more efficient and less expensive, than the systems installed in the 70s. Considering the increased cost of fuel and adding the available federal tax credits, makes a solar hot water system very feasible for many. Remember though that your system must provide at least 50% of your hot water needs in order to qualify for the tax credits.
Two kinds of solar hot water heating systems are used for homes: open loop systems or closed loop systems. Open loop systems are installed in climates where temperatures don’t drop below freezing and where the water is soft. In an open loop system, the incoming cold water is circulated through the solar collectors, and then stored in the solar hot water storage tank from where it goes to the water heater. In the closed loop system, a heat exchanger isolates the domestic water from the solar collector loop. The fluid running through the loop is usually a freeze-proof glycol solution. Because of the added heat exchanger and a bit more piping, the cost of a closed loop system is higher than that of a comparable open loop system.
Number and size of solar collectors will be selected based on the type of collectors, the area you live in and on your hot water demand. Solar collectors for water heating most commonly installed are flat plate or evacuated tube collectors. Evacuated tube collectors are more efficient than the flat plate collectors and are recommended for colder or cloudy climates and regions with hard water. You will pay a premium however, for the higher efficiency evacuated tube collectors.
You will need to keep your domestic water heater, or add one in your new home, even with the solar water heating system. It is a must to have this back-up full-sized water heater to ascertain that you have enoughsufficient hot water, even in the event of numerous days of overcast or snowy weather. A solar hot water storage tank is also installed, in addition to the standard water heater mentioned above. Consider the solar water heating system as a system that PRE-heats the incoming cold water on most days. It will be heated to the required temperature in the regular water heater. With a correctly designed system, enough hot water will be made in the solar collectors on sunny days to not require the regular water heater to be used. When you have several days of overcast weather however, that is when the regular water heater kicks in.
Where are you planning to install the solar collectors? I guesson the roof somewhere. The “somewhere” is the critical part. You have to be sure that the location you decide on receives sufficient direct sunlight, all year. Numerous tools are available online to help you determine this. Some of these tools are free. Keep in mind though that some of these tools might not make allowances for trees. You can also contact a local solar heating system installer. Many will do a free analysis for you and they will include trees and tall buildings next door.
Now on to the roof itself. Will it need strengthening? How exactly will the collector support system be attached to the roof? What about the pipe penetrations? What will be required to make sure that the roof is still totally waterproof after the solar system has been installed. Talk to a trusted contractor.
More things to investigate. Do you have space in the basement or closet, next to the water heater, for the new solar storage tank, pump and possibly expansion tank (closed system only)? As an estimate, you will need as a minimum twice as much space as you have now for your water heater. More is better, so you will have easy access for maintenance.
Almost done. One more thing. The piping. Where and how can you run them between the solar storage tank and the solar collectors on the roof? You have to look for either two locations that can each accommodate a 1″ pipe with 1″ insulation, or install them next to each other in the same chase. Hint: closets or walls behind toilets, if the first floor toilet is below the second floor bathroom. Avoid having to build pipe enclosures in the living room or dining room. Expensive and not very nice looking, unless you can be creative and build a bookshelf around the pipes.
Done. At least with a lot of the important initial research. Use the knowledge you will have gained after answering all the questions raised. You are now in a good position to either know what else you need to know to be able to design and install a solar hot water system for your home yourself, or hire a contractor for the work.
Avoid the same mistakes other folks have made in the past when they were planning, designing and installing a solar hot water system. Educate yourself and learn how to plan and prepare for a successful system.
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Technorati Tags: Alternative Energy, carbon footprint, climate change, global warming, residential solar heating, solar energy, solar water heating, solar water heating systems, solar water heating systems for homes, sustainable energy
Posted on 2010 under Alternative Energy |
2
Jul
Alternative energy source is not something that one can only dream about anymore; in fact it is totally viable to have your house powered by solar electrical power! That being said, you might want to totally build a new home instead if you are truly looking to convert your whole house into a solar electrical powered one.
Why you need to get a new home?
There are many benefits as to getting a new home as far as generating your home with alternative energies are concerned. One of the major reason you want that is because you have to understand that old home appliances consumes more energy than those newer ones found in the market.
As we progress, manufacturers have found ways to considerably lower down the energy consumption in newer home appliances, which make them more solar electrical power friendly, because simply solar power does not generate enough energies if your whole house are running on older form of home appliances, switching to newer technologies ensure that you can be more effective in terms of power saving.
Thus if you are looking to change the source of your electricity, then you want to make sure that your home appliances and windows are not consuming too much energy that it might not be enough to power your home with alternative source.
The next reason is the insulation factor. As mentioned, today’s new technologies have made insulation of your home into a more efficient one. Your old house might be very costly to maintain in terms of power supply, as most old houses are not meant and designed to be heated effectively, costing you more power to do so.
Having a brand new home also provides you with the chance to effectively design your house to incorporate those solar panels. You can easily have the area where you get the most sunlight as the area to install those solar panels. This is a physical thing which your old home might not be able to accommodate.
Solar panel aside, getting a new home also allows you to install hydro electricity and wind turbines which can also help generate electricity, this is beneficial especially when days you do not have enough sun to power your solar panels.
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Technorati Tags: Alternative Energy, environment, family, finance, home improvement, hydro power, social issues, solar power, utilities, wind power
